Syria's Safe Zones Implementation Promotes Crisis Settlement - Red Crescent

ANKARA (Sputnik) — The implementation of the ceasefire in the de-escalation zones in Syria, as agreed on by Russia, Turkey and Iran at the Astana pace talks, is highly conductive to settling the country's long-running civil war, Turkish Red Crescent president Dr. Kerem Kinik said Saturday.

"The deescalation situation and de-facto ceasefire situation in the safe zone regions is providing a normalization atmosphere in Syria… So we highly appreciate this situation and we hope the final conflict resolution can be done by both parties," Kinik told reporters at an event dedicated to Turkey's July 15 failed coup attempt.

Dr. Kinik informed that the Turkish Red Crescent is providing a wide range of aid in Syria in cooperation with the Syrian Red Crescent and the Russian and Turkish governments.

Russia, Iran and Turkey are guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire regime, having signed a memorandum on the establishment of four safe zones in Syria that came into force on May 6. The four zones span the northwestern Idlib province and parts of the neighboring Latakia, Hama and Aleppo, the north of the central Homs province, Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, as well as southern Daraa and Quneitra regions. The memorandum came into force on May 6.

At the last Astana meeting in early July, the guarantors, with help of Jordan and the United States as observers, tried to coordinate a whole range of specifics on the establishment of the de-escalation zones. They could not agree on all the details and sign a package of documents, but clearly committed to continue work at the expert level.